BLOG: A Pilgrimage to Fatima and Lourdes

My sister invited me to go on a “Pilgrimage” with her and others from her parish in Nashville, Tennessee. I was very excited about being with my sister on this truly awesome trip, but I really didn’t feel like I needed to go to Lourdes or Fatima to intensify my already very deep devotion to our Blessed Mother, and I certainly didn’t feel the need to see my rosary change to gold, or see the spin in the sky, or any other “miraculous” happening for Mary to prove her love for me to believe in her apparition.

It was truly a magnificent trip and I enjoyed every minute of it. I remember being very touched when I realized just how young the children were when they received such sacred messages from our Blessed Mother. Aside from that I found myself wondering, “Why am I here? What message am I supposed to be getting by being here? I wonder what I’m supposed to learn from seeing all of this?” I was somewhat confused and found myself asking, “Why? Why? Why?”

At one point I think I was eating dinner, or shopping, or washing my hands—something very “unreligious”—when, BOOM, out of the blue, the thought hit me like a ton of bricks. “Ruth, a little child will lead you.”

At first I thought, “That’s an interesting thought, but I guess I’m just missing my Granddaughter,” and went on with what I was doing. Then time and time again, even once being bolted out of a sound sleep, I heard within me, “Ruth, a little child will lead you!”

Finally, that phrase repeated itself enough that it really began to bother me. “Why am I hearing this? What does that mean? What am I supposed to do with that statement?” I knew it was in Sacred Scripture somewhere, but I had no idea where to find it.

In December, a month after I arrived back home, I was at morning Mass. Father read Isaiah 11:6 in the Christmas narrative, “A little Child will lead you.”

I wanted to jump up and shout, “There it is!” At least one part of the puzzle was finally answered. Now I knew where it was in Sacred Scripture.

About six months later, I was leading and listening intently to a precious lady telling us her abortion story in one of the Project Rachel Sessions. The Holy Spirit prompted me to say spontaneously, “Honey, pray to your aborted baby, who is living in the embrace of our all-loving God and Blessed Mother, Mary. A little child, your little child, will lead you every inch of the way to the healing, reconciliation, and the peace you are searching to find.”

Finally, I understood Mary’s message to me in Fatima and Lourdes. Her message unfolded and was a process. I know for certain that Mary gifted me with that message, so I could take it to every post-abortive woman I will ever have the privilege of meeting.

Mary, you sure do use weak, frail, and sinful instruments, but because I know for certain that this message is directly from You, I will tell every post-abortive woman, and anyone who loses a child in death, that they can fully trust their own journey of faith because they are being truly guided, nurtured and blessed because: